At Honeybuns we make a range of cakes and slices focusing predominantly on gluten and/or wheat free products. I say predominantly because we still make a limited amount of wheat-based cakes from the same site. This article is intended to provide an insight to how we prevent cross contamination in the bakery.

I began Honeybuns in 1998, making home made cakes from a tiny domestic kitchen and delivering them to delicatessens on my bicycle. Back then I had no awareness of coeliac disease. Coincidentally, I didn't rate wheat flour particularly highly as a tasty cake ingredient so I began to experiment by replacing more and more wheat flour with ground nuts and polenta.

I 'm really chuffed that most of our regular customers now accept that there is nothing ‘weird’ about gluten free recipes. They actually taste nicer because every ingredient in there is working hard to add flavour and texture. Some delicatessen customers, however, have been harder to convert wanting more time to convince their customers - but we are aiming to cease production on all wheat flour based products by Christmas 2004. We already use gluten free baking powder in everything anyway to avoid any possible mix ups as it is impossible to visually distinguish between regular and gluten free baking powders.

But while we are still producing wheat and gluten free products on the same site it is vital that we remain vigilant about the possibility of cross contamination. I have mapped out our procedures and processes in the order that our work ‘flows’. We call each process a ‘flow stage’ which reminds everybody in the bakery that every action taken has an impact further down the line. It makes us all think consciously about what we are doing, how we are doing it and why.

Incoming Goods
Incoming goods is the most vital stage of all. Without reliable traceability and filtration of incorrect or faulty goods, all subsequent flow stages are a waste of time. We have two people who take responsibility for incoming goods. All goods are purchased from approved suppliers who have completed our self- audit questionnaire satisfactorily. We also visit as many suppliers in a year as we can.

With the gluten free ingredients that we buy in, it's especially important to check that the outer packaging is intact and has not been tampered with. Any suspect packaging is sent back with the delivery driver. All ingredients are then checked off against the ingredient specification sheets. For example, if the ground almonds delivered are American and the specification sheet states Spanish the delivery will not be accepted. With nuts it is especially important to check that they are labelled as ‘re-cleaned’ (sieved and cleaned twice).

Once ingredients are checked and accepted they are given a batch number which incorporates the date the goods arrive. For example, polenta delivered on October 1st will be batched POL011004. This batch number enables us to trace the ingredient right the way through to the ‘goods out’ flow stage.

In our dry goods store pallets are set aside for oats and wheat flour with ‘contains gluten’ posters displayed above the pallets.We have found extra labelling and signage reinforces the gluten free message and slows people down.Our staff have to read the reminders before picking ingredients out.

Inside the Bakery
From storage the ingredients move onto the decanting stage where they are removed from their original packaging and placed in plastic lidded containers. All gluten free ingredients go in blue containers. The batch number and best before date from the outer packaging is transferred onto a label on the tub. We do not allow any cardboard into the bakery. (Our new staff are often puzzled by this but we cannot risk any cardboard finding its way into the product - and when you consider how many dirty hands have handled a box would you want to touch it!)

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